The gap between expert analysis and public opinion seems to be widening by the day. In the US, there is significant popular support for the policies of Donald Trump which the vast majority of experts regards as questionable, to say the least. In the UK there has been a broad consensus of economics experts warning that a vote to leave Europe will be disastrous, but many members of the public still intend to vote to leave. The global scientific community continues to warn about the catastrophic dangers of climate change, yet many members of public see human-created climate change as a hoax.
These are just three examples of an increasingly wide-spread phenomenon: well-informed experts put forward a view on a topic based on the best evidence available and public opinion jumps the other way. Why does this happen?
One possible answer is that the general public is just stupid. To put this in more acceptable terms, the public do not have a sufficient IQ, enough education or the right information to accurately weigh up the arguments. This explanation may appeal to experts whose opinion is ignored, but it is not correct. Most of the public have sufficient raw intelligence to weight up basic arguments. General levels of education have never been higher – and almost any information is readily available to anyone with an internet connection.
More here – The Conversation
PS : Despite evidence to the contrary I am sticking with the people are too stupid to understand things argument 😉
I think there is an element of the “people are too stupid” element in many of these situations. However, I also feel that there is a genuine distrust by the public of many so called experts. Who do they believe? There is so much spin occurring on both sides of these important debates. It is often difficult for the average person to sift through and distinguish the facts from the lies. While it is very easy to sit back and say people should do the research for themselves I think that in many cases people do not have the time or the resources to sift through all of the “information” that floats around in these debates. Yes I do think there is a degree of laziness, ignorance and apathy. However a lot of people are also barely managing to keep on top of increasingly busy lives.